Archive for category Projects

Do It Yourself: Adventure Food – Cheese Tortellini in Meaty Marinara Sauce

May 27

Posted by Mic in Do It Yourself | 1 Comment

Cheese Tortellini in Meaty Marinara Sauce

As I continue to look at different meals to make, I spend a lot of time in the grocery aisles looking for box dinner items that I can utilize in my entrees.

One such item that I came across several months back, was the dry cheese tortellini you find in the pasta section.

While there are different companies who make it, the one I have settled on is Napoleon Brand Cheese Tortellini.

It took me several tries to get things right to where I liked it.

It is meals like this, that people can really spend time customizing to their own needs. So keep that in mind as you read over the ingredients and how I went about preparing this meal. It is this reason that I really have enjoyed making these meals, as they are personalized to my tastes.

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Tags: camp food, camping food, hiking food, motorcycle camping food

Do It Yourself: Adventure Food – Scrambled Eggs *

Apr 16

Posted by Mic in Do It Yourself | 1 Comment

Whole Egg Powder - Do not inhale

I realize that writing this is one of those “duh” articles, mainly because powdered eggs has been a staple of emergency preparation as well as trail-goers for several years.

I figured however, I may as well write about it! So this will be a quick article.

To start off with, I titled this “Scrambled Eggs *”, to denote that it really can be made with anything. I am just doing a simple scramble with sausage crumbles, which is what I will focus the most of the preparation on.

With regular powdered eggs. Prep time is fast and simple. I used Healthy Harvest’s whole egg powder for my eggs, and it calls for 2 Tbsp of egg powder mixed with 3 Tbsp of water to = 1 large egg.

It really is as simple as mixing and cooking.

I do, however have some observations once you start adding substance to it.

First off, I added sausage to mine. Just plain dehydrated pork sausage.

As with most dehydrated and freeze dried foods, there is a “reconstitute” time you should let it sit in liquid. Healthy Harvest’s directions state that 5 minutes is enough time for the sausage. Under my own tests, and making this meal twice now using the sausage, I can honestly say that 5 minutes is not long enough.

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Tags: camp food, camping food, Motorcycle Camping, motorcycle camping food, Powdered Egg, trail food

Do It Yourself: Adventure Food – Biscuits and Gravy

Apr 13

Posted by Mic in Do It Yourself | 2 Comments

Biscuits and Gravy

Anyone who has been following my blog now for awhile, understands that one of the vows I made before I take my upcoming trip to the Arctic, was that I would create my own Biscuits and Gravy Recipe.

It is easy to sit down, with fresh ingredients, fry up some sausage, add some flour, milk and spice to taste. I found out it is another thing to try and make it into a dry, moisture-free, light weight, and simple to make packaged meal.

There was a lot of hurdles along the way that I had to get over along the way, taking the time to research or think up a solution, test it out, apply it, try again, and hope for a positive outcome.

As previously mentioned in my article “Do It Yourself: Adventure Food – Poor Man’s Chicken and Dumplings“, I had originally intended that meal to try an analog for making my biscuits.

After a successful experiment using Jiffy Buttermilk Biscuit Mix to drop into the soup directly as dumplings, and make a meal with flaky biscuits in about 15 minutes, I later tested a couple weeks later the application in the field. Trying out a second idea I had for mixing the biscuit dough while on the move. A simple solution of a plastic bag, and some water, and “Massaging” the dough until ready to drop spoonfuls of it into the simmering soup.

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Tags: biscuits and gravy, camp food, camping food, hiking food, Instant Whole Milk, Motorcycle Camping, motorcycle camping food, Nestle Nido, trail food

Happy Trails T2 Luggage Platform Installation – 2008 KLR650

Mar 30

Posted by Mic in How-To | 2 Comments

I am posting this up, in hopes that it will save some aggravation for others who mount the T2 Luggage Platform on their 2008 and newer KLR650.

It also serves as a guide for you to double check your installation, if you have already performed it, especially if you used the included hardware.

I want to start off by saying that this write-up is partly motivated by my pet peeve of manufactures of products not providing sufficient installation material. Regardless of how easy it may seem, sometimes simple tasks get the best of us.

Also, improper instruction can compound this confusion, resulting in some serious head scratching, as is what happened in this instance.

As a mechanic for several years, fabricator, road racer, crew chief, and team manager, I am no stranger when it comes to the workings of motorcycles.

This is not meant to take away from the quality of product that Happy Trails produces or the service that you receive. I am very happy with the quality of the panniers that came on my bike from the previous owner, and I am happy with the quality of the top box I purchased.

This is merely a individual’s take on an area they could use some help on, and hopefully they will improve upon it with the advice this consumer is providing.

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Tags: 2008 2009 2010, Directions, Happy Trail, Happy Trails, Installation, Instruction, KLR650, T2 Luggage Platform

Do It Yourself: Adventure Food – Poor Man’s Chicken and Dumplings

Mar 17

Posted by Mic in Do It Yourself | 1 Comment

Jiffy Biscuit Mix and Lipton Soup Secrets

With my trip coming up soon, I have shifted into making up some meals to take along with me which may be pre-made by myself, or something combined with store bought materials.

Most recently, I started to look into the possibility of a biscuits and sausage gravy breakfast meal, utilizing freeze dried sausage crumbles and whole powdered milk.

The problem I came up with, was the biscuit. The dough itself, is not an issue I was too concerned about. I can easily premix my own ingredients, and then add the water later on. No, the problem was how was I going to cook the biscuits.

The more I thought about it, the more it tugged at me. I needed an easier way to do this, so I decided to try out a cheap analog, and to much of my surprise, it worked out wonderful.

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Tags: camp food, camping food, cheap food, hiking food, motorcycle camping food, trail food

My Old Friend: Part 10 – An XT Reborn

Dec 30

Posted by Mic in My Old Friend: The Rebirth of an XT | 2 Comments

Part 10: Published 12-30-2009

In the final days of December, I strap down, and finish a project I’ve worked over a year on. What started out as a tribute, became a long emotional path as I raced to completely rebuild a part of my past. Now, as this journey comes to an end, I set my sights for many more adventures with My Old Friend.

I realize, as I write this, that this will be the last entry I write in this Project Journal.

Over the last couple weeks, I have watched what was once an old neglected motorcycle, transform into the bike it is today.

I have also, over the last couple weeks, kept you all updated with video updates here and there. So this last journal entry will be a combination of the video’s I have already posted, some pictures, and some other video’s I did not post.

So without any other delay, lets take a step back, 2 weeks ago, and begin.

Tags: My Old Friend, Projects, The Bikes, xt225

Video now available!

Dec 23

Posted by Mic in My Old Friend: The Rebirth of an XT, Projects | No Comments

I finally got around to signing up for a YouTube account so that I could post some videos!

There are 3 new entries on this page, first video is of the bike running! Second of the bikes rats nest of wire, and the third is of the Acerbis Cyclops headlight installed and testing.

I need to go look for a couple things in town tomorrow. I need to get some 90 degree connectors for my fuse block that I am installing under the dash, and I need front brake pads. I have managed to misplace the old ones, which were actually still good. Not sure where I put them, but I spent a good hour tonight looking for them, and was unable to find them.

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